Aluminum

Business Unit

AMG Aluminum is a world-leading provider of master alloys and grain refiners for the aluminum industry. Headquartered in Wayne, PA, AMG Aluminum has over 300 employees and five ISO 9001 manufacturing plants in the United States, Brazil, England, and China.

AMG Aluminum is a customer-focused, technology-driven organization dedicated to innovation, quality, technical expertise, and rapid response to customer needs. For more than 50 years, AMG Aluminum has earned a trusted reputation for reliable delivery of consistently dependable aluminum grain refiners and master alloys anywhere in the world. Throughout its history, AMG’s has advanced metallurgical-based technologies to provide innovative solutions for industrial challenges. AMG Aluminum continues that proud tradition today.

The success of the aluminum industry and its end markets are dependent upon alloys that AMG Aluminum delivers. These alloys reduce automobile weight, form various products such as aluminum beverage cans, and increase the performance of electric transmission cables. AMG Aluminum’s development of grain refiners and master alloys has helped facilitate these innovations. AMG’s global technical capabilities in the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom have been an integral part of its customers’ successes.

Grain RefinersMaster alloys with a number of different titanium-to-boron or titanium-to-carbon ratios are available to accommodate special conditions which may exist in the user’s plant. In selecting the proper aluminum grain refiner alloy, the user must take into consideration conditions such as the alloy to be treated, the quantity of secondary aluminum used, the desired grain size in the product, and the melting and casting practice used.

HardenersAluminum’s mechanical and physical properties are enhanced with the use of alloying elements. These alloying elements are commonly referred to as hardeners. Aluminum-based master alloys which contain the hardener elements in high concentrations, provide a convenient and economical way to add them to aluminum to achieve desired properties. These master alloys readily go into solution at lower liquid aluminum temperatures, thus minimizing dross formation and solubility of hydrogen. Lower furnace temperatures also mean reduced energy consumption and longer furnace life. Hardeners are available in a number of alloys and in a wide variety of concentrations depending on the alloy. Forms include waffle, slab, and ingot profiles.

Specialty AlloysWith the use of master alloys containing special addition agents, many unique characteristics can be imparted to aluminum alloys.

The electrical conductivity of aluminum can be dramatically improved by the addition of tightly controlled amounts of boron to eliminate the undesirable effects of Cr, Ti, V, and Zr. Aluminum boron master alloys provide a convenient mechanism for making the desired boron addition. Boron is also an effective grain refiner for aluminum silicon alloys.

The use of strontium to “modify” the structure of aluminum silicon alloys to improve soundness and mechanical properties is a very effective and widely accepted practice. Aluminum strontium master alloys provide convenient, stable, and effective sources of strontium.

TabletsHigh concentration aluminum hardeners in the form of compacts are a popular method for hardener additions. These products are a mixture of hardener elements such as Mn, Cr, Fe, Ti and Cu compacted with high grade aluminum powder and/or flux. Generally, compacts have a slower recovery time and lower recovery rate than that of master alloys as the elements in question are not in solution with aluminum. Many cast-house operations have adopted practices that include the use of both high concentration compacts and lower concentration master alloys to achieve the desired recovery and productivity results.

Chemicals and fluxes

Potassium Aluminum Fluoride (KAlF4)

Potassium Aluminum Fluoride (KAlF4) is a commercial grade inorganic salt. The material serves as an alternative to conventional fluoride salts. It is used for a variety of applications, including fluxes, the manufacturing of grinding wheels and other abrasives, and as additives in roofing shingles.

Potassium Fluoroborate (KBF4)

Potassium Fluoroborate (KBF4) is a white crystalline salt material. It is offered in granular and fine powder. KBF4 is a key ingredient in grain refining salts for aluminum, and can be used separately or combined with Potassium Titanium Fluoride (K2TiF6) to form a grain refining flux. It is also used as a binder/filler in abrasive products, a key ingredient in “Boronizing” steel, and as a common ingredient in refractories that are pressed or formed into complex shapes for the non-ferrous casting industry. These shapes include spouts, baffles, and other parts used in foundries.

End Markets

Aluminum’s mechanical and physical properties are enhanced with the use of alloying elements in order to produce high quality finished products like beverage cans, engine blocks, car wheels, electrical cables, and aircrafts. AMG’s aluminum products are widely used in the transportation (primarily aerospace and automotive), consumer durable, energy, and building & construction industries.

Recent Innovations

AMG Aluminum’s global network of technical expertise in the master alloy and grain refining industry has continued to provide innovative metallurgical solutions to meet its customer’s needs. As industries such as aerospace and automotive demand stronger, lighter, more corrosive resistant materials, AMG Aluminum continues to develop its product line and increase manufacturing capabilities to remain at the forefront of these trends in the critical materials world.